NAMA Awards Pennsylvania Vending Repair Program Grant

Apr 1, 2013

The occupational advisory committee (OAC) of the vending repair program at A. Philip Randolph Technical High School has announced the receipt of a grant in the amount of $2,000 from the NAMA Foundation. NAMA is a national association representing the vending and refreshments services industry. The grant will be used to defray the expenses of an individual who will shadow and train with the current instructor, Jim Clark, who is retiring in June 2013.

Randolph Technical High School is a career and technical high in the school district of Philadelphia. Darryl Overton is the school principal who oversees not only the vending program but also eight other career technology education (CTE) programs ranging from culinary arts to auto repair and medical careers.

The vending repair program is the only program of its type in the country. The program trains young men and women of high school age to be vending technicians. As part of the program, the students are given the opportunity to be certified by NAMA as Level 1 Technicians.

Bud Burke of Thayer Distribution in Gibbstown, N.J. and chairman of the OAC said in a prepared statement, “Through the generosity of NAMA we will be better able to move forward with this program. The entire curriculum has been developed by Jim Clark over his 23 years of instruction. This grant enables us to familiarize an individual with the curriculum and the successful techniques that Jim has developed for this course.”